Dream Big

This will be a short one. I've been ranting about a lot of bummer stuff lately it seems, so here's a quick dream scenario. The Ninth Street Taco Bell has been out of business for some time now. There's a huge sign that says "Bank Owned" and the building is basically in shambles. This would be the perfect location for "Jamie's Surf & Sandwiches" don't you think?? Right on PCH in downtown Huntington Beach, surfer adjacent, nightlife adjacent... I'm telling you this thing would be a money maker.

All I need now is an investor to give me a couple million bucks to buy that property, tear down the old Taco Smell, & build my dream restaurant/bar. It would be geared towards surfers and beach goers, serving hardy, healthy sandwiches to help all those active people refuel. They won't all be vegetarian sandwiches, of course, but you know there will be endless veggie options. And, this isn't like a Togo's or Subway knock-off, either. These will be gourmet sandwiches with fresh, locally grown veggies, high quality meats, freshly caught fish, fresh, soft breads that don't overpower the contents of the sandwich. And I'm not leaving things up to the customer to "design" your own sandwich. No, I won't let you put a tomato mozzarella sandwich on wheat bread.

But, I also want it to be a 2-story building with a bar upstairs. Yeah, that's right. Sandwiches and booze. Could there be a better combination? Throw in some local bands playing music in the evenings & this place is perfect.

This is a crummy picture, taken with my cell phone while driving (danger is my middle name) but it gives you an idea of how perfect this spot would be. There's even a bus stop right out front. I can picture the wet, salty, sweaty surfers walking up to my sandwich shop right now. I'll have a place for you to rest your boards, fellas, don't worry. I also want to have a walk-up "To Go" window so that people can order food & take it down to the beach with them for picnics.

I know this is a total pipe dream, but there's no denying that I am the best sandwich maker in all of Huntington Beach... so why shouldn't I dream about having my own restaurant? Here's another bad cell phone picture, but you get the idea... I should start seriously photographing my sandwiches...

Shown here: Jamie's To-Die-For Avocado Sandwich. You won't even realize there's no meat in it because it's so damn good.

[ j. ]

Earth Day in May?

Preface:

So, for some reason, lately I've been posting "notes" on Facebook instead of blogging. It's almost like I totally forgot I have a blog.... This was originally written on April 22, 2010 (Earth Day). So, let's just pretend like the date is correct on this posting & move on. Here ya go...

Yesterday, I was looking at my senior high school yearbook with my cousin, Carly, who goes to the same high school now. Nearly ten years later, it's kinda a trip looking through this book.

Back in high school is when I realized how important preserving the environment is to me. Growing up, my family always vacationed to places in nature... we weren't jet-setters or hotel hoppers. We were campers. My parents were backpackers (before I was born...). I think that spending vacation time in the wilderness is what planted a love of nature into my soul. Maybe it's the Native American blood in me, too. Anyways, I think the high school/college years are when you start to realize what issues are important to you. You pick sides. You challenge what other people say. You protest. You fight for what you believe in. Well... I found that I believe in protecting the natural world that I love.

I joined the "Ecology Club" and was literally the tree-hugger in the club photo in the yearbook. I was the recycling Nazi. At the time I was dating a surfer, so the two of us worked with Surfrider and organized beach-clean ups... and I even ratted out the people who were just trying to get their community service hours and weren't trying hard enough actually clean the beach. I was hardcore about it. No one was just going to skate by... not on my watch! After the first Seal Beach jetty clean-up, I organized a boycott on McDonalds because they were still using Styrofoam coffee cups... millions of which seemed to get stuck in the jetty rocks. McDonalds has since changed their cups, but you will still find them washing up on the shore. I bet they will still wash up on the shore 500 years from now. Just wait.

The point of all this, though, is that I feel like a fallen environmentalist. After high school, I kinda stopped caring. Other things became more important in my life and I stopped going to the beach. I stopped camping. I didn't recycle, in fact, I would even litter... which makes me sick to my stomach to even think about today. In the late years of college, my environmentalism got a little jump start when I started studying the Green movement in building design and interiors. LEED was, and still is, the cutting-edge of design. But still, I never really got back to the socially active way that I was in high school. Now that I'm not even in the building industry anymore, I'm really not doing anything to make the world a better place (except that I'm still a recycling Nazi).

I really need to get fired up again. I've been spending time in nature again. I go to the beach. Yosemite is my favorite place in the world. I'm addicted to the Discovery Channel and all those documentaries about the planet, the ocean, global warming, and anything Green. I'm a sponge for information, but I'm also as sedentary as a sponge when it comes to actually doing anything. When Earth Day rolls back around year after year... all I feel is guilt. Which is good, because for me, guilt is the ultimate motivator. I need to do better. I hear about environmentalist activities all the time around HB and the surrounding areas. I need to get off my ass and start cleaning those beaches and planting those trees! I hope some of my friends and family will join me, but I can't let the idea of doing this stuff by myself stop me from doing it. That's always been my mental excuse... that I don't want to go alone. Well, screw that. I'll lead by example.

Lastly, here is what my dear friend Jengyee wrote in my senior yearbook. "Jamie- I will always insist that you enjoy life more--even if that's just what I see in high school :) I was so excited for you when you won the art plaque and hear that you're an active member of Surfrider. If more people were like us, the earth would be in a much better state :) Take care and keep in touch. Sincerely, Jengyee Liang"

Jengyee, I wish I could be half as good of a person you were in your short life. I think of you every day and try to live up to your standards of preservation, caring, and respect for this planet. It's because of you that I feel tremendous amounts of guilt every time I use a plastic bottle (even if I recycle it!). All I can do is keep trying, keep up the good fight, and try desperately to keep your dreams of "the earth in a better state" alive.

So, stay tuned, friends. I've got a lot of ideas brewing and things are going to start happening...

[ j. ]  

#30 on the bucket list... CHECK!

So, today I was able to check the very first thing off on my bucket list! #30 on my list is "Break a World Record" and thanks to Angel Stadium I am now officially part of a Guinness Book of World Records event. It was the largest group of people wearing fleece blankets (aka Snuggies). They gave everyone in attendance a Matsui Snuggie and during the 5th inning we wore them for 5 minutes... breaking the world record. I'm not going to lie... it was pretty awesome. Here's some photos:

Yeah, I thought this was all very fun and had just the right amount of ridiculous to go along with it. I wish that the Angels had won the game, though... haha.

So, as far as my happiness level right now, things could still be better. I've been having a lot of fun the last few days/weeks. I've been going out a lot more. Baseball is back, which always makes things better. Yet, I'm still feeling blue. Tonight I felt like a stick in the mud. I was tired of even just making conversation or putting on a show for the friend that I went to the game with. I know I was quiet and probably not a whole lot of fun to be around. I'm getting colder and colder by the minute and I don't know what to do to stop it... Honestly, I could just really use a big hug right now. A big Snuggie hug.

[ j. ]

Screw the calendars. I say it's spring.

So, technically spring doesn't officially start until another month... But have you been outside? (I'm specifically talking to people who live near me. I know the rest of the country is up to their eyeballs in snow. Sorry.) The last few days have been SO beautiful... I went to the beach on Monday. Worked on my tan. Read a book and listened to tunes with Carly. Then we went on a beach bike ride and went for happy hour sushi at RA. I mean, seriously, it was like a summer day.

Today I was able to throw open all my windows and let the breeze in. Spring breezes have always been one of my favorite things. It's one of the blessings I get from living by the beach. For some reason having the windows open and just sitting on my bed in my room makes me think of my childhood. I sit there in the quiet and feel the cool breeze... and I just get taken back. It's my own personal time machine. Today the sun was literally shining and the birds were literally singing.

Something else great and spring-like happened today... pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training! To me, and many hard-core baseball fans, this marks the beginning of the season. The training stadiums have employees working. The clubhouses are open. Balls will be thrown and bats will be broken... starting today. This is a great thing, people. I can't explain how much I'm looking forward to some warm summer nights... listening to the sounds of the game. Seeing the boys play the game they were made to play. Feeling the excitement and electricity of being at the stadium. Watching the sun set under the ballpark lights. It makes me want to cry... tears of joy!

Also, I went for a sunset drive today. Windows down, music blasting. Soaking in the sunshine and breeze. Hey friends and family... will you remind me of this day next time I say I want to move to New York? hahaha...

xoxo

[ j. ]

OMGosh! The "holidays" are almost over! (one more for good measure)

I just realized today that with the upcoming brutal V-Day, also comes the end of the miserable-to-be-single "holiday season!" On February 15th, I can celebrate yet another year of making it through the lovey-dovey months intact, scar-free, and with my heart still beating. AND... (drum-roll please) it means it's almost time for BASEBALL to start! Glory, glory, hallelujah!

The long, cold, lonely winter season is wrapping up. Pitchers & catchers report to Spring Training on February 18th, which means my life can yet again be dedicated to the sport and team that I love with my whole heart. GO ANGELS! World Champs Twenty-Ten, baby!! Woooo!!! I'm getting my vocal chords and exclaimation points warmed up for the following 8-9 months of what is sure to be another exciting season.

Although, I am a little bummed that the Spring Training trip doesn't look like it's going to happen this year. Finances and a traveling partner are both in short supply... but who knows. I might go crazy and just book it out there at the last minute. It might be a spur-of-the-moment type of season. I currently own ZERO tickets for Angels games this season... something that hasn't occurred before the start of the last few seasons. But, trust me once tickets go on sale, I'll be buying a few choice games. Opening Day. 4th of July. Fan Appreciation Day. Bobblehead Nights. BoSox. Maybe Yankees. Maybe. I don't know how to express in words or symbols how excited I am that baseball is starting up again. I NEED this.

I need it like the sunshine. Ever hear of SAD (seasonal affective disorder)? No? Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder Well, I get O-SAD. "Off-Season Affective Disorder." It causes mood-swings, random fits of pacing, obsessive Angels Baseball online viewing, overplaying of the song "Calling All Angels" by Train, and sudden "woo-ing" &/or loud clapping at things on the TV that normally elicit no fan participation. Such as Oprah. And "The Soup." And "How It's Made."

Once baseball season starts up again I can turn this fan energy back into productive uses... such as "woo-ing" at Mike Napoli, stat memorization, and sign-making! Jumbotron, here I come! Look for a serious increase of the number of times I'm on there this season. I caught the "I wanna be on the big TV" bug last year. And signs do the trick. I'm planning on spending a small fortune this year on posterboard & markers :D

In addition to the wonders and magic that is baseball season... This Friday starts the Winter Olympics! I know not many people get pumped for the Olympics like I do... but oh well... I'm really looking forward to it! Ever since I was little I always had a secret dream to be an Olympic Champion Skier. (Some dreams are never meant to come true haha!) But one of my best memories in LIFE was when Picabo Street won the gold medal for the Super-G in the 1998 Olympics.

I think my love for the Olympics is partly because skiing and swimming were the only two sports I would consider myself to have been "a natural" at when I was a kid. When I watch the Winter Olympics, I can feel the skis on my feet, the slip of the snow, the wind... I don't really know what it's like to play other sports. Even baseball or softball... I was never good at team sports as a kid. I would always panic at the thought that other people depended on me performing well. I would buckle under the pressure. Plus, I wasn't exactly the first one to be picked on a team. Kids my age knew not to expect much from the chubby girl wearing leggings tucked into her sneakers and an over-sized t-shirt with a picture of an elephant on it. Solo sports, competing against myself... that's what I've always been better at. I sure would love to go skiing again... I haven't been since snowboarding took over, though. And apparently people would "make fun of me" and "yell things at me" on the slopes. So I'd have to make sure to wear gloves with good flexibility in the middle finger area.

Bottom line... I am a sports nut. I'm picky about what sports I am fanatic about... but when I love a sport, I LOVE it. The sports fan passion runs in the family (have you seen G-ma's Jeff Gordon/Jimmie Johnson room?!) but for me I know one of the reasons I love to follow sports is because I wasn't athletic as a kid. I was never on a team of any kind growing up... except for what the P.E. teachers force you to play. Skiing and swimming I was good at, yeah, but even that stuff ended after middle school... partly due to my foot injury but also because I just wasn't passionate about sticking with it. I always had it in my mind that I was going to be physically incapable my whole life. I wasn't a sporty person. I'd be good at other things. Painting. Math. You know, being smart and stuff. So watching athletes in their prime appeals to me. I know how hard it is for me to run a mile... so watching them is like watching real-life superheroes to me.

And, side note: Now, more than ever, I want to prove to myself that sports, athleticsm, CAN be my thing. I CAN be in shape. If I work hard at something, I have the ability to accomplish it. Sure, the chances of me being a world-famous downhill skier are probably around as likely as me winning the lotto or getting struck by lightning... but there are other things that I can accomplish. Things that if I work hard enough... they're within my reach. For example... on my bucket list I have a goal. This goal is to run a marathon. First of all, I can't run for 30 seconds straight without feeling like I'm having a cardiac incident or asthmatic attack at this point. Actually, I'm not sure if that's true anymore... I haven't tried in quite some time. And I'm pretty damn capable on the elliptical these days. And I'm stronger now, too. And I can't even remember the last time I needed an inhaler. But either way, let's just say running isn't my thing. In fact, I'd rather eat my own feet than go for a jog. Which is precisely why I have to do it. It'll take a lot of hard work. I'll have to get there very slowly. But someday. I will. Run. And complete. A marathon. And, c'mon... if Oprah can do it, I can do it.

Baaa-zing! Two Oprah references in one blog. Damn I'm good.

Thanks for reading :)

[ j. ]